Tuesday, 7 April 2009

THE SUPRESSION OF GOOD TELEVISION

'The Lyricist Lounge' show was a comedy/rap sketch show aired on MTV in the late 90's.

It featured rappers such as Wordsworth,Thirstin Howl the 3rd, Common & Slick Rick, with a special guest on every week. As well as being incredibly entertaining I think it was good for Hip Hop culture in that it displayed rap as a true artform. The improvisation and ingenuity of the artists freestyling on the show was not something that was often aired on television. Thus it gave audiences a chance to see the true nature of Hip Hop: having fun and being creative.Watching the show made people realise freestyling and emceeing wasn't easy, you had to be intelligent and quick to do it.

Little seems to be left of 'The Lyricist Lounge Show'. Its nowhere to be found on the internet, let alone the DVD store; there is a sparse IMDB profile and a few manky youtube clips. It's nowhere to be found on the MTV website, even though they used to broadcast the show.

What has become of this amazing show? Will it ever be repeated on TV or is it lost forever in a limbo like state that sometimes besets a cancelled t.v show?

Please enjoy what is left of the show below and pray for a day when quality, intelligent Hip Hop programming is nurtured and not left to decay like levees in New Orleans.